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We are trying something new in the retail space here in India and need your frank opinion on what might be needed.

The business is called fivex5 and what we are doing is encouraging normal folks to spare a small space in their homes, offices or establishments and sell books from there. There is no upfront investment and all they need to do is spare the required space and be connected to the internet because the online software allows them to order the books as also keep track of sales. We have arranged with publishers to provide the books as required although some of them are reluctant to send one book at a time to each of these retailers (who we have called associates with "bookpads").

For more on the model, please visit http://www.fivex5.com

Please share with me your frank opinion of the model. Some ideas on how to market the concept will also be welcome.

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closed as off topic by Karlson, Zuly Gonzalez♦ Nov 28 '12 at 0:40

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5 Answers

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Overall I like the idea, because I love books and read a lot.

You're not giving much of the model away, and we must form the idea of your model through 1 or 2 vague paragraphs on your site. Maybe if you posted the details we could form a better opinion. Nevertheless, I have a couple of comments:

  1. I think the idea of bookpads is great from the publishers' point of view, since it's a brand new channel to distribute their products besides Amazon and bookstores. They've got nothing to lose and everything to gain (there is a BUT, in point 3)

  2. For people, I still don't know... I mean, having your "own business" sounds good enough but there are a few points, like for example, their home address (presumably where they have their bookpad) will be listed on your site. They will also have to open the doors to their homes to complete strangers that come to "browse books" and found their address online.

  3. You will have a hard time keeping track of the "business hours" of operation of all the bookpads. I mean, when you sell your idea to bookstores or publishers, they will most likely want to know specifics about this new channel: efficacy (conversion rate), hours of operation, etc. How can you assure them that people will effectively be selling or even opening up their doors? You will need to track people, otherwise how can you difference from the person who just loves to read (like me) and signs up just to get a discount on their favorite books?

Those are just some of my thoughts, hope that helps you.

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Thank you for valid points you have raised. Some clarifications: These bookpads are voluntary i.e. folks themselves have come forward saying they want to host a bookpad. Many of them want something to do in their free time. We are, therefore, not going rigid on them. They can sell books whenever they wish to. We are offering them a variable discount structure where they earn a larger discount the more books they sell. This should encourage them to sell more books. b. These folks will market their bookpad to their immediate circle of friends and thus attract the right kind of crowd – Leonard Mar 7 '10 at 14:03
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For the US, this seems like a great model for the Small Business market. I could see it working well for small retailers, cafes, real estate offices, anyone who has a good amount of customer traffic. It gives them a new revenue stream at almost no cost. And it helps them round out what they have to offer their customers.

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I see two major flaws in this idea.

  1. Overhead Lets say book selling becomes very popular in India. Each of your dealers has 25 books and one shop person. A big book store down the street has 25,000 books and 10 employees. The big bookstore has a much larger selections and much lowe overhead, needing on 10 employees. You need 1,000 small stores (with 1,000 employees) to match the one large store. Overhead will wipe out any possible profits.

  2. Inventory With only a relatively few books at each location, every mini-bookstore is going to want exactly the same 25 most popular books. You are going to overstock the most popular selling items and end up with a ton of unsold product. Less popular books, that would have sold, will not be stocked.

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Good points again. However, in India, we have a vast area untapped with people who want to read but cannot get to a bookstore. This is for them and for those pockets in a large city where getting to a bookstore is an ordeal. These won't be my employees. They will be people who have volunteered to have their own bookpad. I am not investing in any of their overheards I am hoping that people will go to the main bookstore for the popular titles and will go to these bookpads for better service and for searching titles not usually available – Leonard Mar 7 '10 at 14:06
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I like the idea. Another possible issue you will run into is loss of product. How do you make the bookpad responsible for the stock you give them? What happens in the event of theft, accident, or even dishonesty? And what of the money they take in? I think you will have to find a way to make the bookpad accountable for the business. Im not sure solely a written contract will do this.

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How about making every micro bookstore specialize in a very niche topic.

For instance, there could be a bookpad for "Internet startups books". That way, they could beat the larger stores by having books that are so specialized that even the larger stores don't have. Just an idea like that ;)

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